The common raven is black in color. The feathers have a metallic sheen, especially on the wings. It is up to 64 cm long and weighs 1-1.5 kg. Its wingspan is up to 1.20 m. It has a striking, wedge-shaped tail. Its beak is strong and slightly curved downwards.
All of human history portrays the raven as a companion of witches, evil sorcerers, and evil forces in general. Overall, it is usually a symbol of misfortune and even death. In fact, it is only human ignorance and superstition that made this bird eternally condemned to persecution.
These are very intelligent birds that have self-awareness, they are characterized by the ability to learn, remember and plan complex actions, use tools and adaptability to the environment in which they live. These birds are known to open nuts by throwing them on the street and waiting for a car to run over them, then collect the edible part of the nut.
#1
They are extremely smart
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cziy_rhKlwd/?igsh=ejUzcTdyMmttZ3F5
When it comes to animal intelligence, these birds are on par with chimpanzees and dolphins. In one logic test, a raven had to reach a hanging piece of food by pulling on a piece of string, anchoring it with a claw, and repeating the process several times until the food was available. Many ravens got to the food on the first try, some within 30 seconds. If a raven knows that another raven is watching it hide food, it will pretend to put food in one place, while actually hiding it in another. Since the other ravens are smart too, it only works sometimes. In the wild, they use tricks, such as pushing stones at people to prevent them from climbing up to their nests, playing dead next to a beaver carcass to scare other ravens away from their meal, or even stealing packaged meat from customers from their carts while they come out of the supermarket.
Coming across a bottle of water whose narrow neck prevents him from drinking it, the raven quickly "put 2 and 2 together" and came to the conclusion that the water level will rise if he puts pebbles into the bottle.
No one knows where he learned Archimedes' law, but his idea bore fruit.
#2
They can imitate human speech
In captivity, ravens can learn to speak better than some parrots. They also imitate other sounds, such as car engines, toilet flushing, and animal and bird calls. Ravens have been known to imitate wolves or foxes in order to attract them to carcasses they are unable to dismember. When the wolf finishes his meal, the raven gets the leftovers.
#3
They roam around in teenage gangs
Ravens mate for life and live in pairs in a certain territory. When they enter adolescence, they leave home and join gangs, like people's worst nightmare. Flocks of young birds live and eat together until they mate. Interestingly, life among teenagers is stressful for a raven. Scientists have found higher levels of stress hormones in the droppings of teenage ravens compared to mating adults. It's not easy being a teenage rebel even in the raven world.
#4
They like to play
These amazing birds have been spotted in Alaska and Canada using snow-covered roofs as slides. In Maine they have been seen rolling down snowy hills. They often play with other animals such as wolves, otters and dogs. Ravens even make toys – a rare animal behavior – using sticks, pine cones, golf balls or rocks to play with each other or amuse themselves. Sometimes they just make fun of other creatures because it's funny.
#5
Ravens show a variety of emotions and empathy
Despite their mischievous nature, ravens show a sense of empathy. When a friendly raven loses a fight, his friends will do anything to comfort him. They will also remember another bird that approached them in a friendly manner, but will also remember those that were hostile.
By studying the advertising of ravens, scientists discovered that through it they can express various emotions such as tenderness, happiness, surprise or anger.
#6
Ravens through myths and legends
Unfortunately, many European cultures have demonized these elegant, intelligent and playful black birds through numerous myths, legends and fairy tales. In France, people believed that ravens were the souls of evil priests. In Germany, they were the incarnate soul of stupidity or sometimes even Satan himself. In Sweden, advertising a raven was considered advertising for souls who did not have proper Christian burials, and in Denmark they were even afraid to look at a raven, because they might turn into one themselves...
Cultures from Tibet and Greece saw ravens as messengers of the gods. The Celtic goddesses of war often took the form of ravens during battle, and Odin himself had two ravens, Hugin (Thought) and Munin (Memory), who flew around the world and returned each night to inform Odin of what they had seen.
The Chinese believed that ravens cause storms, while some Indian tribes considered them deities. In their beliefs, the raven is described as a cunning deceiver who participated in the creation of the world.
